TÜBİTAK ULAKBİM participated in the IFLA Interlending and Document Supply (ILDS) Conference 2026, held in Rome on September 28–30, 2026, and shared Türkiye’s national infrastructure supporting access to information and resource sharing with international participants.
The transformation from interlibrary resource sharing to open science
At the conference, Ayşe Damla Çelik, an expert representing TÜBİTAK ULAKBİM, presented “From Interlibrary Loan to Open Science Ecosystems: National Infrastructures Enabling Resource Sharing in Türkiye (From Interlibrary Loan to Open Science Ecosystems: National Infrastructures Enabling Resource Sharing in Türkiye).”
The presentation examined the transformation that interlibrary loan and document delivery services in Türkiye have undergone over the years, while also assessing the role of open science, open access, and national research infrastructures in access to information and resource sharing.
Türkiye’s national information infrastructures on the international stage
At the event:; EKUAL, DergiPark, TR Dizin, Harman, Aperta, UBSS, and TÜBESS The contributions made by national services and infrastructure—such as these—to researchers’ access to information sources and to the sharing of resources among institutions were highlighted.
The role of traditional document delivery services in the research ecosystem—where digitization and the open science approach are gaining increasing importance—was also examined using Türkiye as a case study. It was thus demonstrated that interlibrary resource sharing is not limited to traditional services alone but has become part of a broader information ecosystem that includes open access and national research infrastructures.
Following the presentation, international participants asked questions about TÜBİTAK ULAKBİM’s services and Türkiye’s information access infrastructure. During the discussions that followed, participants shared practices and experiences from their respective countries.
IFLA ILDS: The international hub for access to information and resource sharing
IFLA (International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions), which operates at the international level in the field of library and information services, continues its work as one of the leading professional organizations in the field. Various university libraries and information centers from Turkey are also among IFLA’s members.
TÜBİTAK ULAKBİM provides services at the national level in areas that directly overlap with IFLA’s fields of work, such as access to information, electronic information resources, document delivery, open access, open science, and national information infrastructures. In this context, international initiatives and the exchange of experiences within IFLA are significant for TÜBİTAK ULAKBİM’s areas of activity.
The IFLA Interlibrary Loan and Document Supply (ILDS) Conference serves as an important gathering where current developments, practices, and international experiences in the fields of interlibrary loan, document supply, resource sharing, and access to information are discussed.
